Second Chances
by AndreaAras26
Summary: It's been four years since Shinichi Kudo got shrunk into a little kid. Life has been rough to him, taking everything he had left after his fateful encounter with the B.O. After all the wrongs in his life, there is only one though in his mind. "I hate Conan Edogawa." The little brat ruined any and every chance he had of living a happy life. Or had it?
1. What I've Become

**Hey, Andie here. This is the other story that I've been working on. I already have pretty much all the story figured out, I just have to transcribe it. Some characters in this story will be (slightly) ooc due to the circumstances of the story, but I hope this won't scare you away from it. Well, I hope you like this new idea.**

Second Chances

Chapter 1: What I've Become

I run. I don't know for how long I've been running but I don't stop, the full moon barely lighting the dark streets. I can't resist anymore. Everything I had. Everything I hoped for. It's all over, never to come back.

It's been four years since my encounter with Gin and Vodka in that theme park. Four long and agonizing years. Now, the Black Organization is gone, everyone either dead or in prison. Everything should be fine now, right? But it's not. And it will never will. The final confrontation with the B.O. was barely a month ago. The Japanese police, the FBI, the CIA, everyone was involved in its take down. Other countries even aided our cause. It was hard. And it came with a great price. With open acts of terrorism from the B.O., many lives were lost, even innocent lives, with no knowledge of what was going on.

Ran was one of them.

She was among a group of refugees when the building they were hiding in exploded, killing 107 civilian refugees and 22 law enforcers. Slowly but surely I saw the people close to me disappear. Haibara sacrificed herself for me and another group, allowing us to escape from a certain death. My father was killed in a raid while helping the police. Members of the Japanese force were lost, Detective Takagi being only one in the list.

Shinichi Kudo was officially declared dead after his name was found in the victim lists of the Organization. It's not like he would ever walk this planet again, either way. I was trapped as Conan Edogawa forever.

I feel my legs burning, giving under the pressure, and I'm forced to stop against my will. Forced to face the world around me. I can't hear anything. My heartbeat and rocking gasps are all I can register. I lift my eyes, blinking the black spots away from my vision. I'm on a small bridge, over a river at least three meters down below. I drag myself to the side of the bridge and look down.

 _There he is._

I stare down at my faded reflection in the river's water. My face immediately twists with anger. Everything is his fault. Conan Edogawa. The one I've come to despise. He shouldn't exist. Everything is his fault. He took everything from me. I can't deal with having his face anymore. I will erase his existence forever.

In a mindless impulse I start climbing the bridge ledge. I can't help feeling disappointed at myself. Is this how things will end? My chest feels hollow and I swiftly let myself fall over the edge. I feel the freezing cold water engulfing me from every direction, the harsh temperature feeling like needles against my skin by the sudden contact. The water enters my nose and my lungs start to burn. Everything feels like in slow motion, but at the same time, faster than a second. My consciousness steadily fades away until I'm surrounded by still and silent darkness.

For what seems like forever, I feel nothing, numb. I can't tell up from down, lacking any kind of sensation or direction. A small but bright light begins to form in the distance. It slowly comes closer; forming what appears like a human silhouette. It reaches for me before the light envelops me completely.

I suddenly snap my eyes open and find myself staring at the ceiling of my bedroom in the Kudo residence. Am I dreaming? I sit up and feel everything shift. I put a hand to my head, the dizzy spell quickly disappearing. I look up again, confused. Turning to the window it appears to be early morning, birds chirping outside. Something is wrong. Something is different. I fling my legs over the edge of my bed and promptly realize the reason of my sensation of oddness. I'm taller. I stand up hastily and look myself down. Could it be? I run to a mirror and look at my reflection.

 _It's me…_

It's Shinichi. Shinichi Kudo. But what happened? Has all of this been a terrible nightmare? Some kind of crazy hallucination? That's impossible.

I leave my room, the shock leaving my senses alert to everything around me. As I begin to step down the hallway, I notice the room besides mine has the door slightly ajar. The guest room. I grab the handle and carefully open the door. My eyes widen, looking around the room. This is no dull guest room. It looks like an actual bedroom. Desk, chairs, bookshelves, posters and other things are lying around. My head fixates to the blue covered bed, or more specifically, the person sleeping under the blue covers.

I feel my heart stop and rise to my throat, recognizing the person at once. Conan. Conan Edogawa.

A short, visceral scream leaves my lips, almost without me noticing. I stumble back and fall into the hallway. My eyes on the boy, expression shocked as said boy awoke with a start.

"Huh!? W-what? Shinichi?" the boy exclaims while reaching for his glasses by the bedside table and putting them on his face with a confused and tired grimace. "Shinichi…? You're awake… What's wrong? Why are you yelling like that?"

 **Hope you liked that. Don't worry, the rest of the story itself is not as dark, I swear it has a good ending XD It's called second chances for a reason. This being the first chapter is shorter, so next ones will be longer. Please review and tell me what you think. Thank you ~**

 **Also, something seems to be wrong with my Doc Manager so the text looks really... weird... for me. There's different fonts ans sizes. I have tried fixing it via source code but it doesn't seem to be working. I don't know if this is some kind of glitch in the manager or something (this has never happened to me with** ** _There is Only One Truth_** **before) so if the story itself looks strange please tell me and I'll try to fix it somehow.**


	2. Alternate Reality

**Andie here. Thanks to everyone who followed/faved this story, it's greatly appreciated. Please enjoy.**

Chapter 2: Alternate Reality

Conan stares confusedly at me. As soon as I see him get out of bed my heart starts racing and I bolt to my feet and sprint out as fast as I can. What kinda nightmare is this? What the hell is going on?

I flee the house, the fact that I'm barefooted doesn't even cross my mind. I don't stop running until I reach a small park a few blocks away. The place is deserted and I walk towards a bench, plopping down, trying to calm my breathing.

Putting my head in my hands I try to make sense of what is happening. I can barely think. I try to retrace what I've done before this happened, but nothing makes sense. I jumped off a bridge. I should be dead. It's impossible for me to be here, and in my own body no less. I stay in that same position for some time.

"Shinichi!" I hear my name and turn to the voice only to see Ran running in my direction, Conan right behind her. My heart stops for a second time at the sight of yet another person that couldn't actually be here. _They should be dead_ , my mind protests.

Ran quickly reaches me, a worried frown on her face, and puts her hands on my shoulders. "Shinichi! Oh my God, you're awake!" she exclaims, swiftly pecking me on the lips before pulling away. "Conan-kun called me as soon as you ran off. Are you ok? What happened?"

My head is reeling. _D-did Ran just… kiss me…?_ "I-I… I… just…" I try to explain, glancing at Conan, who has a strange look on his face. "Why did he call you…?"

"Why?" She ask incredulously, "Are you serious? His older brother, who just woke up from an accident, started yelling and ran off the house! Why _wouldn't_ he call me?"

"B-brother…? Awoke? Accident? What are you even talking about?" I ask, not understanding anything she's saying.

"Wait… you don't remember what happened?" she says softly, bringing a hand over her mouth.

"No…"

"Yesterday you tried to stop a man that was running away from the police." Ran starts explaining, "The man shoved you down a bridge in rage, both of you fell to the river below and you struggled underwater. The police managed to bail you out of the river, but the man drowned… and… you weren't breathing… you…"

Seeing Ran's hesitance, Conan talks slowly, "Your heart stopped for about a minute and a half…" his voice steadied, "But they managed to bring you back. After the paramedics made sure you were stable they brought you back home."

I feel a sudden rage seething inside of me as I stare at him. _This brat. He is the cause of everything. All of my problems. All the suffering. All of those deaths. Takagi. Haibara. Dad._ _ **Ran.**_

No. Wait. I suppress the anger and try to analyze the situation. Ran is alive. She's right in front of me, her hands firmly grasping my shoulders. She's here. She's real. And… Conan. He's here too. But he's a different person. And he's my brother? That is what Ran said. And the ages aren't right. Me and Ran, we look 17, as when I first got poisoned with the apotoxin. Yet Conan looks 11, the same age as when I jumped off the bridge, four years after I took the apotoxin. And not only that but, apparently… I died? And then came back?

I don't understand. Or rather, I didn't want to accept the possibilities. Could I possibly be in some kind of… alternate reality? I'm a person of logic, but I can't help thinking in the many tales that tell of parallel worlds or different universes. Maybe I entered this plane by jumping into the river. No. That doesn't make sense. If that was the case I'd still be Conan and not just randomly wake as Shinichi in my house. Unless only my soul transferred? Since inside I'm still Shinichi? No. That's not it either. If only my soul transferred then I wouldn't have a body. ' _Ha… this is impossible…'_ I feel like ruffling my head. Maybe I've always been part of this world and that dip I apparently got yesterday just killed my brain cells by lack of oxygen…

 _Kill… yesterday… the river…_

Suddenly Conan's words echo in my head.

 _'_ _Your heart stopped for about a minute and a half… but they managed to bring you back.'_

My eyes widen in realization. That's it. _That's it_. The original Shinichi of this world… he must have died. He drowned yesterday, struggling with that criminal at the bottom of the river. And maybe… I jumped at the same time… Maybe… some kind of synchronicity occurred. My head starts to hurt. Maybe when he died, my soul was transferred into his body? But… why? Wha-

"Shinichi…?" Ran's voice brings me back from my own thoughts. She finally let's go of my shoulders and sits beside me, her eyes full of concern, and then takes my hand into hers.

"A-Ah…! I'm… sorry. I don't remember any of that…" I smile sheepishly. I couldn't just up and tell them ' _Hey! Sorry but that wasn't me. I'm from another dimension!_ ' even I still have some trouble believing it. Despite my throbbing head and confusion, four years of posing as a little kid improves your acting and improvisation skills, I'll just have to play along for now. "Sorry, Ran. My head is just fuzzy."

She smiles, relieved, at me, "Don't worry. You must be disoriented after all of that has happened. How are you feeling now?"

"I feel good, I suppose. If you hadn't told me I almost drown yesterday I would have never guessed." I say as she stands and I follow her example, "I just have a light headache."

"You should go home and rest a bit," she says as we walk out of the park, Conan tailing after us, "You know… we were planning on going to the carnival as soon as you recovered. So… What do you think? Are you up for it? We could go in the evening."

"Oh… Sure thing." I nod.

"Great! I'll call the gang and tell them about it," She smiles. _The gang?_ The thought quickly crosses my mind. I just nod in response.

"Well, I have to go," Ran turns to me as we reach the front gates of my house, "Please have breakfast and rest that headache away, alright? I'll see you later Shinichi."

Again, she leans in and swiftly pecks my lips. I feel my body tense and my face heat up as she turns to say goodbye to Conan. I try to calm my racing heart and force my arm to move as she waves goodbye.

"Come on, I'll prepare breakfast." Conan says, opening the gates and stepping inside. I immediately feel my blood starting to boil again, all the negative thoughts concerning my alter ego coming back. The boy stops by the front door and turns to me.

"Are you okay?" He says slowly, with confusion and wariness in his face.

I clench my fists and try to push down the feeling, nodding at him silently before following him inside. He heads directly to the kitchen and I sit down on the table and wait.

"Ne, Ichi-nii, you sure startled me with all that screaming." The boy says from the kitchen, an amused tone in his voice. That really didn't help my mood towards him. I clench my hands over my knees, fingernails digging into my skin under the fabric, my jaw clenched.

 _Calm down, Shinichi. Calm down._

"Sorry." I try to say in a neutral tone but it ended up sounding like a grunt.

"Hey… are you really ok? You…" Conan glances at me quickly, his eyes lingering for a second, before focusing back on his task. "Never mind," he sighs, "You must be tired."

I stare at the back of the child. He seems… different, and not only because he's apparently another person altogether. I take notice that his hair is actually a few shades darker than I'm used to. Some of his features are slightly different but still looks extremely similar to me. And since he's probably not hiding his identity from the mafia, he must actually need glasses.

I rip my eyes away from him and stare at the table, trying to push the negative thoughts away. But it's hard. Really hard.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but I was brought back by a plate entering my field of vision. My head snaps up to Conan with a frown, "Sorry." He says sheepishly, taking a seat in front of me, another plate in his hands. I look at my own plate to see eggs, sausages and a toast.

I take a deep breath and make an effort to relax. Taking the silverware, I start eating silently, distracting myself with the food. _Don't think about it. Just eat_.

"You know, the other day I-" I tense up visibly as soon as I hear Conan's voice, "U-uh… I… met with… Heiji-niisan at the mall." He continues, uneasy, "I forgot to mention it…"

"I see." I respond tersely, shoving food into my mouth to not say more. I feel my head pound harder from the suppressed rage, and I'm sure the brat can feel the ire radiating off me like waves.

"He… says hi." The boy finishes and forces himself to eat in silence, finally deeming my mood not apt for conversation. He keeps glancing at me with hesitation but is smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

As soon as I finish my breakfast I stand and leave the cutlery in the kitchen sink. I head up the stairs and a force out a "I'm going to rest."

"Ah! Then I'll go-!" Conan starts but I'm already gone, "to Hakase's place…"

I enter my room and shut the door behind me. Sitting down on my bed, I bring my palms to my forehead. The headache hasn't stopped. Thoughts run through my head too fast for me to concentrate on one properly and I take a breath to try and steady myself.

Falling back on the bed, I stare at the ceiling. I stay there for a while but I can't get the restlessness out of my system. I still find myself doubting what is happening to me. Maybe… this is some kind of dream. Like that time with the antidote. But this feels too real, something is different. I don't know what it is, but my gut tells me this is not a farce. This is happening. This is real. Sighing loudly, I stand and head for the bathroom. Hopefully a shower will help me calm down.

I stay under the cold water for what's probably two hours just trying not to think too much. I stare at myself in the mirror. _I really am here._ After drying myself off I peek my head out the bathroom door to check if Conan is around. Seeing the hallway free of little spectacled kids I step out and into my room again.

Putting on whatever clothes are closer to my hands, I throw myself at the bed with the intention to sleep. It didn't come easy, but I was able to fall asleep eventually. The next time I open my eyes again there's a pesky ray of sunlight in my face. I groan as I sit up and glance at the window. It's definitely past noon. I look at my side table and look at the alarm clock. 3:46 p.m. it says. I skipped lunch. For a second I contemplate going downstairs to grab something to eat, but I decide against it. I'm not really hungry.

I notice there's a cellphone beside the alarm clock. _That must be my other self's phone._ I pocket it, deciding to check it out in another moment.

Sometime later I hear a knock on my door. "Ichi-nii…" I hear Conan's muffled voice from the other side, "Shinichi… are you awake?"

"Yeah." I respond after taking a beep breath.

The door opens slightly and he peeks his head inside, keeping the rest of his body in the hallway. "Ran-nee called." The boy starts explaining, "It's almost five. We should get ready to head out."

"Alright." I nod, "I'll get ready."

"I'll wait downstairs." He nods back before disappearing into the hallway and closing the door.

I change and head down about five minutes later. Conan is waiting in the living room, sitting in the arm chair and stating at nothing while kicking his legs. I knock on the door frame to get his attention. He turns his head towards me before jumping off the couch.

We take a cab to the carnival. Conan tries to make conversation a few times but I just respond with short answers if any at all. It's hard to keep calm, clenching my fists inside my pockets; I stare out the window all the while.

As soon as we step out of the cab the phone in my pocket rings. I take it out and look at the caller. Ran.

"Hey," I pick up the call.

"Hey, Shinichi." She greets, "have you arrived yet?"

"Yeah. We just got out of the cab, actually."

"That's great! We had a little change so we'll be meeting by the food parlor instead." She explains, "Just calling so you two wouldn't get lost."

"Oh. Alright." I didn't really know the original meeting place so this was fine, "I'll see you there."

"Ok. I'll be waiting for you."

Pocketing my phone I turn to Conan, "What did she say?" he asks.

"They changed the meeting place. Now it's the food parlor." I explain, stoic.

"I see…" he says and I almost miss the strange look in his eyes. "Let's go, then."

We find Ran without problem and I note she's with Sonoko. Ran notice us approaching and waves at us. Conan runs ahead and greets them first and I follow behind.

"Hey, Detective Geek, how are you feeling?" Sonoko says, turning to me.

"I feel fine I guess…"

"Heard you had a rough morning today."

"Ah… Yeah." I rub the back of my head sheepishly, "My mind's been a bit hazy since I woke up."

"Well, I'm just glad you're ok." She replies with a lopsided smirk and a shrug.

"Shinichi, the other guys won't be able to come." Ran says after a while, clicking away on her phone.

"The other guys?" I question.

Ran then list a few people, whose names I don't recognize at all, only getting Hattori and Sera, saying their reasons of absence.

"Oh…"

Mistaking my short answer for disappointment she then adds, "But don't worry. They'll visit you as soon as possible."

"Heeyy!" I hear multiple voices yell. We all turn around in time to see Agasa Hakase coming along with Genta, Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and… Haibara. The extremely familiar scene gets me into some sort of trance, but it's gone as soon as they get close enough for the other teens to greet them.

"Shinichi-oniichan! I'm glad to see you're ok!" Ayumi exclaims, Genta and Mitsuhiko parroting something similar. I guess some things never change.

After exchanging greetings we all start strolling around and going into different rides. I take this time to observe and learn. Something I quickly learned, thanks to no other but Sonoko, is that Ran and I are indeed dating. This discovery made my heart flutter. She is just like before my encounter with the B.O. kind, strong… happy. Sonoko is the same rich, obnoxious girl I've always known. Agasa Hakase seems the same. And the kids… they seem mostly the same. Ayumi is the same kind and cute little girl, Mitsuhiko is mature and well-spoken and Genta is loud and naïve.

But Conan and Haibara… No, not Haibara. _Shiho_. They called her Shiho, I soon discovered as well. Both of them are always together. Conan seems happier and more at ease than I ever did. Shiho is more open and still has that sparkle of childish wonder in her eyes.

"Hey, Shinichi," Agasa Hakase walks to my side, "Are you doing alright?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you seem… pensive." He says, trying to hint something, but I don't understand. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Really." I insist, but then something occurs to me, "I've just been thinking…"

"What is it?" Asks the Professor, interested.

"Are you familiar… with APTX-4869?" I whisper.

"No. Not at all." He responds, intrigued.

"And what about… Gin, Vodka, Vermouth…"

"The beverages?" He asks, now confused.

"No- I mean, yes! But…" Does he really know nothing? Did I never make any contact with the Organization here?

"Is this for one your cases?" the Professor concludes.

"Well… something like that." If he really is oblivious of the Organization then he should stay that way, "But don't worry about it, it's really nothing."

We keep on walking and eventually stop by other attraction. Mitsuhiko then approaches me, the group of kids observing a little way away.

"Shinichi-san," the boy says, "Why don't you come to this ride with us?" he points to some kind of small rollercoaster.

I refuse at first but all the kids start pleading so in the end I just accept. Of course, I get seated with Conan and Hai- Shiho, while the other three seat in the car in front of us. I tense as soon as my 'brother' sits by my side. I grip the security bar tightly and am thankful this is some kind of rollercoaster so it doesn't seem too unnatural.

I feel my arm twitch and my heart race whenever the boy presses against me on the curves. My bloods starts boiling again and I grip the bar until my knuckles turn white. I close my eyes and try to concentrate. If I don't keep myself calm I'll end up shoving the kid away and put him in danger.

The ride eventually stops and we climb out of the cars. I walk rigidly and stare hard at the back of Conan's head, a light frown forming. As soon as the others come near I rip my eyes away and bring a hand to my forehead.

"Haha, that thing went fast!" I try to cover.

"Yeah, you seemed really surprised by it." Sonoko teases.

"Yeah…" I laugh, but I can see the spectacled boy looking at me, with the corner of my eye, before turning away.

We go to some more attractions and I try to avoid Conan as subtly as possible. Just his simple presence makes my stomach knot. I stay close to Ran, and enjoy her presence as much as humanly possible. After what happened with the B.O. I never thought I'd see her again, but now she is here, where I can touch her by merely stretching my arm. After a few hours it's time to go and Sonoko invites us all for diner. After finishing up, it's already late and we must return home.

Before we finish saying goodbye Ran takes my arm and leads me a little farther from the group. "Ne, Shinichi, please tell me what's wrong. You've been acting really strange since you woke up this morning. You have been spacing out, getting all fidgety around Conan, asking many things." She tells me with a serious but concerned expression, "I know something is off, Shinichi."

What can I tell her? Well, you see, Ran, I'm actually from another plane of existence? Sorry Ran, I'm actually going batshit insane and have delusions of a parallel universe? Neither sound like very good ideas. So then again, I resort to what I seemingly do best. Lie.

"Sorry, it's just…" I sigh, "I may have some… memory loss…"

"W-what…?" she breathes, shocked.

"I think I have partial amnesia. There are many things that are just… missing. I remember you and the Professor. Sonoko hanging with you at school. But,"

"I can't remember Conan at all." I look at her in the eyes.

"Oh my God…" she brings her hands to her mouth, "So that's why…"

"I know this will sound terrible but could you tell me about my brother?"

"Yes, of course." She replies after taking a calming breath, "Well, Conan is 10-years-old, a fifth grader, he is eight years your junior." _So I'm actually eighteen…_ "He has needed glasses since he was four. He's a very smart boy. He takes after you a lot, following you everywhere. Um… he is close friends with Shiho-chan! Both met since entering school. They met in kindergarden."

"Shiho-chan… she… is close to him?" I ask, curious about this Haibara counterpart.

"Oh yeah. They are very close." Ran says proudly, but then a sad expression replaces the excitement. "You see, when both were in first grade, Shiho-chan's parents died while traveling aboard. She was devastated by this and the only one she interacted with was Conan. She eventually got better with every ones help, especially Conan and her sister's. She and her sister were adopted by Agasa Hakase, who was close to their parents."

"Her sister? Why isn't she here?" I ask, dreading the worse.

"Oh, Akemi-san is a college student now so sometimes she is absent for a few days." She explains. "About the other kids, they met in second grade and have been a group since then. They are good friends, always having each other's backs."

"I see."

"We had actually planned to come to the carnival to cheer Conan up, remember?" She states, worried.

"Cheer him up? For what?" I question confusedly.

Ran then stares at me like I slapped her in the face, her eyes wide with shock.

"W-what? What did I say?" I wonder nervously.

"You… You really don't remember…?" she asks, great sadness setting into her features, and I can't help but feel dread creep up my spine as I shake my head in answer.

"Shinichi… I'm really sorry, I… I don't know how to say this… but… Shinichi… your parents…" she avoids my eyes, trying to keep her composure.

"They both… died… in a car accident last month…"

 **I'll try to update weekly, so stay tuned. This fic is mainly in Shinichi's PV but some chapters will be in Conan's PV. Please feel free to leave a review, it motivates me to write faster.**

 **Adela C. Brandon** **: Shinichi has been trapped in the body of a child for four years, constantly struggling with his personal matters while still trying to overturn the B.O. While, in the end, the Organization is stopped and imprissoned completely, many people precious to him die in the process, some like Yusaku, Ran and Haibara. With some of the most important people in his life dead and still stuck in the body of a child, Shinichi runs away, cursing his child persona, Conan, for everything that has happened. Blinded with rage and desperation, he jumps off a bridge into a river, hoping to end it all, only to end up waking in an alternate universe, where Conan himself is now his little brother.**

 **Nexu** **: Thanks a lot. I've been pondering about this idea for a while now.**

 **Little-Eeyeore95** **: Thank you :)**


	3. Hopeless

**Andie here. Thanks to all of you who followed/faved this story, I'm glad you like it. Please enjoy.**

 _Chapter 3: Hopeless_

Waving from the sidewalk I watch the Professor's beetle disappear in the distance. We finished dinner a while ago and it's pretty late. Turning to look at the entrance of the restaurant I see that Ichi-nii and Ran are still talking, but the atmosphere around them has changed drastically. My brother looks shocked and disturbed while Ran looks really sad. She seems almost apologetic. I wonder what they are talking about to get such an expression on his face.

"I hope he gets better." Sonoko says behind me. I face up to her and she's glancing down at me with a bittersweet look in her eyes. "He's been acting really off since waking up again. Ran's really worried."

"Yeah… he has." I turn towards the pair and see them walking towards us, Ichi-nii solemn and stiff and Ran still looking sad but trying to hide it with a small smile.

"Oh, the others left already?" Ran asks as they near.

"Yeah, the Professor just left to take the kids home." Sonoko replies, "Our ride is waiting for us now."

"Alright. Well, good night Shinichi," She hugs him tightly before letting go, "Rest as much as you can. You can call me if you need anything." He just nods.

She then turns to me and crouches a little to hug me. I lift my arms to hug her back, "Good night, nee-chan."

"Good night, Conan." Ran says softly and separates from me before cupping my face and kissing my forehead. "Take care ok?" She smiles sadly. I think I may have an idea of what they were talking about now. I can hear the other two saying their goodbyes in the background.

"Good night, brat." Sonoko says as she ruffles my head.

"Good night, Sonoko-neechan…" I grumble.

After that my brother and I take a cab home. He's quiet all the way and seems dazed so I don't say anything. As we arrive home, we go through the gate and head to the front door, but Ichi-nii just stands there frozen.

I question him after a few moments, "Are you alright?" he flinches. That sure is becoming common, but I ignore it this time. "Did you forget your keys?"

He glances at me quickly before looking back at the door and tensely shoving a hand in his pocket. "No. I got it." He says, fishing the keys from his pocket and opening the door.

Once we get inside Ichi-nii hastily excuses himself to his room and I'm left alone again. I sigh and head to the library. I walk toward dad's arm chair and put both my hands on an arm rest. Lifting my head I look around the tall bookshelves lining the walls before looking back down at my hands and rub the fabric with my thumb. Everything looks the same, smells the same.

 _But it will never be the same..._

I shake my head not wanting to think of that and walk towards my room, lazily changing into pajamas and lying on my bed. I close my eyes and quickly fall into a dreamless sleep.

Morning comes fast and I wake up first. I take a quick shower and start walking to the stairs. Stopping for a second, I look back at my brother's room door. Quickly deciding that he should get all the rest he can, I turn away and head down to the living room. After a while I hear the shower turn on and stand up to make breakfast. I'm almost done when I hear Ichi-nii's footsteps down the stairs and I can't help the uneasy feeling growing at the bottom of my gut.

Pushing down the feeling, I turn towards him and greet him with a hesitant smile, "Good morning, Ichi-nii. I made breakfast. You want some?"

"Y-Yes. Please." He forces out before taking a sit at the table. I serve our food and take the plates over before sitting down in front of him.

We start eating and a tense and awkward atmosphere surrounds us. Anxiousness starts building up inside of me and I don't know what to do. He's been acting so different, but… it's mainly around me. Did I do something wrong? He's always angry and tense, avoiding me whenever he can. Is he mad at me? What did I do? I should ask. We should talk about what's going on. But I can't. An unnerving chill runs down my spine as I feel his stare on me. I make an effort to not look up and keep eating.

I finish my food and excuse myself, leaving Ichi-nii to eat alone. After informing him of my destination, I leave for the Professor's place without another word. Ayumi-chan, Genta, Mitsuhiko, Shiho and me agreed to meet there yesterday. Knocking at the front door, Shiho opens and smiles at me.

"Good morning, Conan." She steps aside to let me in, "You came earlier."

"Yeah, I just…" I trail off.

"Still having problems with Shinichi-nii?" She sighs.

"I wouldn't exactly call it _problems_ but…"

"Oh! Conan, you are here earlier that I thought." Professor Agasa exclaims as he nears. "Is your brother any better?"

"Well, he's been sleeping and eating well, I suppose. He looks fine but…" but what? Sure he looks healthy and all but acts like a completely different person.

The Professor's expression softens and he puts a hand on my head. "Don't worry, child. I'm sure he will get back to normal."

I half smile up at him, "Thanks Professor, I really hope so."

"We'll be in the back yard." Shiho informs, pulling me by the arm.

Professor Agasa laughs as he looks at us, "Sure thing. Tell me if you need anything, ok, Conan?"

I thank the professor and we head out. As soon as I step out in the back porch Arthur, our red setter, comes running and tackles me to the floor, my glasses flying off. I laugh loudly as I try to push him off of me but the hyperactive dog keeps pressing against me and scampering around. I manage to calm him a bit but he decides to lie on my legs so I can only sit there and pet him.

Shiho sits beside me with an amused smirk. Sherry, our Siamese cat, is in her arms as she hands me my glasses, "Comfortable?" I just roll my eyes at her as I put them back on.

We sit there for a while talking about nothing in particular. I was finally able to get Arthur off me when she asks, "Are you really doing ok with Shinichi?" I shift, not expecting her to mention Ichi-nii again.

"You both seem on edge around each other," she looks at me seriously, "Did something happen?"

"I already told you nothing happened." I sigh, "I don't understand why he is acting like this. He's seems constantly disoriented, keeping mostly silent and observing everything around him like he didn't know anybody around him."

"Haaa, I don't know!" I ruffle my head, frustrated, "Maybe he has some kind of memory loss? But…"

"You don't think that's the case." Shiho finishes.

"No. Or at least not entirely. Even if he suddenly forgot about me that doesn't explain why he is constantly angry around me…"

"Angry? I've noticed he's always tense but have you actually argued or something? She voices, surprised.

"We haven't argued but he always seems close to snapping." I explain.

"Have you talked to him about it?"

"No. We've had short conversations, if you can call them that, but I haven't gotten any info from him. He just grunts out he's fine and that's it." I pull my legs to my chest, fold my arms over my knees and rest my head on them, sighing silently through my nose. "At least it's getting slightly better. At first he would keep glaring at me and not talk at all. It's almost like it physically hurts him to be around me…"

I feel something in my arm and I glance sideways to see Sherry pawing at it, climbing from Shiho's arms. She meows at me before taping my arm again. Just then we hear footsteps coming from the house and turn just in time to see the Professor coming out to the porch with Ichi-nii right behind him. We stand up, Shiho taking back Sherry fully in her arms.

"Good, you are right here. Shinichi came to visit." Professor Agasa starts, "We talked and decided to inform you that Shinichi believes he is suffering of partial amnesia and I suggest he is around you guys so maybe you can jog his memories."

Giving my brother a pat on the back, the professor walks back inside and closes the door. The noise of it closing was enough to wake Arthur, who was taking a nap at the base of the porch stairs. Realizing Ichi-nii was there Arthur ran up the stairs and happily jumped on him, earning a startled yelp from my brother.

"Uh… hey there buddy." He pets Arthur's head carefully before looking up at us and saying awkwardly, "You have a dog, huh?"

"Yeah. That's Arthur and this is Sherry." Shiho says, holding the cat out for him to see, his eyes widen for a second. "Do you want to want to sit with us?"

She sits in the edge of the porch and Ichi-nii shuffles after her, sitting beside her. I hesitate for a second before sitting next to him. He tenses slightly and takes a breath before relaxing.

"So, Arthur? Did you name him?" He glances at me for a second before looking back at the dog.

I shake my head. "No. It was actually Shiho." I glare unimpressed at her when I notice her smirking at me, "She thought it was funny."

"Really." He looks at her.

"Of course," she responds amusedly, "When we found Arthur he was so small and scrawny they looked like twins."

Ichi-nii snickers slightly before composing himself like nothing happened. "You found him?"

"We rescued him four years ago," I start explaining and he forces his eyes to stay at my face, his gaze immediately hardening but trying to play cool. "He was almost an adult but was very malnourished so he was smaller and skinnier than he should have been."

He nods stiffly without a word. I swallow thickly but continue, "And Sherry we rescued three years ago. We found her trapped in a tree being only a few weeks old."

Shiho suddenly puts Sherry on the ground and then stands and grabs my arm, pulling me up beside her. She looks down at him without letting go of me, a strange look in her eyes before smiling sweetly. "We'll go play now. Will you come too?"

Brother seems surprised by this for a second before looking directly at her. "N-no, no. No, thanks. I'll stay here." He rasps. "You can go."

We turn and as we walk into the back yard I look at her. She looks at me encouragingly and gives my arm a light squeeze. I offer her a grateful smile before looking down. We play with Arthur for a while before Genta, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi-chan arrive. We play tag and soccer, Arthur occasionally stealing our ball and running off.

"Shinichi!" I call after finally getting the ball back from the enthusiastic dog. He flinches but turns to look at me. I lift the ball over my head, panting. "You wanna play soccer?"

I'm greatly surprised when he declines. I can't help feeling disappointed but I push it down and keep playing with the other kids. Both Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko take small breaks were they sit down by Ichi-nii and chat for a while before running back into the game.

After a few hours in game professor Agasa peeks outside and tells us to take a break and wash up because lunch is almost ready. While the other kids follow the professor back into the house I decide to stay out and talk to my brother. Even if he's acting like a complete stranger now, my brother is still in there somewhere. I must hold onto the hope that he will go back to normal.

"Hey," I greet as I plop down next to him in the porch, "I was really surprised you didn't want to play soccer, you know? Since…" I notice him clench his fists over his knees, "you like it so much."

"Yeah, I'm… sorry." He forces out, "I don't really feel like it right now."

"Say…" I start nervously, "I want to talk to you about… well…" I hesitate one last time before steeling myself, "Are you ok?"

"I told you I'm f-" He starts but I cut him off.

"No, you're not!" I insist, "You have been acting like a complete different person lately and I just want to help."

"Please, I don't want to talk about this..!" He stresses, his stance is stark and his hands are now visibly shaking.

"Shinichi, please, just tell me what's wrong!"

"No..!" he growls as he stands and starts walking towards the inside of the house.

I desperately grip his fore arm with my hands to stop him from going, "Shinichi!" I plead.

"NO!" He yells at me, scowling, as he rips his arm from my grasp.

He runs off the house, Professor Agasa calling after him, my friends stand shocked and confused. I can feel my heart clenching in my chest and a knot forming in my throat. I swallow and clench my jaw, pointlessly trying to drown the feeling of my hope crumbling inside of me.

 **Sorry for the wait, life is just pushing my limits right now. As you can see this chapter is in Conan's PV. I will try to make the PVs obvious instead of actually mentioning who's PV it is at the start of each chapter. Even so, the chapter name will be writen normally when it's Shinich's PV and it will be in italics when it's Conan's PV, just to make sure. I have already started writing the next chapter and even though its pretty long I hope to uplead it soon. If you liked this chapter please feel free to review, it's greatly appreciated.**


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